


The Lesson

by DropsAgainstTheSky



Series: It's even kinkier than you thought [1]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: BDSM, Caning, F/F, Heavy BDSM, Impact Play, Nipple Clamps, Orgasm Denial, Predicament Bondage, Punishment, Sensory Deprivation, Spanking, Whipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-28
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-04-28 12:21:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14449170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DropsAgainstTheSky/pseuds/DropsAgainstTheSky
Summary: Max has been playing a little fast and loose with Victoria's rules.Turns out "no touching yourself" actually means "no touching yourself".Who'd've thought.Now they just have to decide what to do about this infraction.





	1. Sorry

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [It's even worse than it looks](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8226214) by [unknown_knowns](https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknown_knowns/pseuds/unknown_knowns). 



> I read _It's even worse than it looks_ and I just had to write some of my own material in that universe. I love the healthy and really sweet and sexy BDSM relationship that the author built up, and felt like adding a few kinky one-shots to it (if all goes well this will be the first of a series).
> 
> This is a bit more fetish-y than the original work, and the kinks aren't exactly the same, but I did my best to keep their dynamic unchanged, and I even made some attempt at echoing the writing style (which ended up mostly being my own writing with more wit and more carriage returns).

"You've been a bad girl today."

Those words were music to Max's ears, when said by the right person.

Victoria was the right person.

She was sitting on her bed, waiting for Max to come back from class.

And she was saying them.

"Yes Mistress."

Victoria pointed to the floor in front of her.

Max doffed her messenger bag and jacket.

She knelt before Victoria.

Her hands went behind her back, and she lowered her eyes.

"Do you know what you did wrong?"

Max wondered if she should make something up.

But that didn't seem like the game Victoria was playing right now.

"No Mistress."

"I saw you masturbating in class."

"What?"

No matter how much Max enjoyed the fantasy of rubbing one out while an entire classroom looked on, she'd never dare.

Not just because it was against Victoria's rules.

"Don't pretend you weren't."

"I wasn't! I don't even know what you're talking about."

Max honestly didn't.

"I saw you rubbing your legs together."

Oh.

Max _had_ been doing _that_.

But...

"That's not masturbating."

Victoria didn't buy that for a second.

"Did you enjoy it?"

"Y- Yes."

"Yes what?"

"Yes Mistress."

Max had enjoyed it quite a bit.

It was hard not to, when she wasn't wearing any underwear.

Which was most days, lately.

"And if you kept doing it, would you have come?"

"Yes'm. But I didn't."

"Doesn't matter. It still counts. I told you, no touchy-feely, at all, ever."

Victoria was right.

Max knew it even as she was doing it, that Victoria wouldn't approve.

But what's the harm in teasing herself?

Aside from the fact that it broke the rules.

Aside from the fact that it was Victoria's pussy now, not Max's.

Aside from the fact that Victoria trusted her, and she broke that.

She had those guilty feelings every time she did it.

Getting caught was practically a relief.

"I'm sorry, Mistress."

"And?"

"I'm sorry, and I won't do it again."

"Closer..."

"I'm sorry, and I'll never do it again, and I'm a terrible slut."

Victoria looked at Max in expectation.

"...Mistress."

That seemed to satisfy Victoria.

For now.

"And what happens to sorry little sluts who break the rules?"

"They're... punished? Mistress?"

Victoria's grin sent Max's heart aflutter.

"Yes. They. Are."

Right away, Max both did and did not like where this was going.

"Since this is your first infraction, I'm going to let you off easy."

Max held her breath, waiting to see exactly _how_ easy.

"I'm going to let _you_ decide your punishment."

That was not easy at all.

Max wondered why there was suddenly a golf ball in her throat.

"yes'm," she whispered.

"You will have an answer for me by this time tomorrow."

"Yes, Mistress."

Max already had something in mind.

"And since you've already gotten yourself two weeks without orgasms, I expect it to be something different..."

So much for what Max had in mind.

"...Something you think you'll truly learn from."

That would not make it any easier.

* * *

Lunchtime conversation with Victoria was usually light and pleasant.

Not today.

"Did you figure out how you'll be punished?"

"I..."

Max had.

She just had to tell Victoria before she lost her nerve.

"I want you to hurt me."

"That's it?"

Victoria didn't seem impressed.

"I do that every day. And you _like_ it."

"I know. You do it just right, with pleasure mixed in. It's perfect. But that's the problem."

"I told you to think of something different."

"I want you to go further. Hurt me more. Right up to my limits."

Max's mouth was getting dry.

Dry enough to make the next two words difficult to say.

"Past them."

"Past?"

"It won't seem like a proper punishment if I can make it stop whenever I want."

"Woah, hold on a sec. I'm not pushing limits without a safeword. What if something hurts way more than you thought it would, and you can't stand it, and you can't stop. Or what if you're tied up and suddenly you can't breathe? I'm not going without one."

"Okay."

Max said.

She wasn't pretending not to be disappointed.

But Victoria did have a point.

"We can push your limits without ditching the safeword. I can guarantee you'll still feel punished."

Max could believe that.

Especially with the devious smile that Victoria paired it with.

"Okay."

That out of the way, Max reached for her sandwich and started to eat.

Victoria interrupted the first bite.

"Hold on. Is that all?"

Max's mouth was full, so she nodded.

"No, no way. That doesn't get you out of deciding your punishment."

The sandwich was difficult to swallow.

"'Hurt me and push my limits' doesn't give me much to go on."

It probably would have been slightly easier if Max chewed it properly.

Only slightly.

"Maybe..."

This conversation was not getting any easier.

"...whipping?"

"That's a start. With what?"

Max had not thought that far ahead.

Luckily there was at least one obvious answer.

"A whip?"

"Are you trying to be a smartass?"

"No! ...Mistress."

"Have you ever seen me with any kind of whip?"

"No, Mistress."

"Well I don't own one. And I can't exactly go down to the whip store this afternoon..."

Max wondered why not.

"...because there's no such thing as a whip store."

Good point.

"And if there were, this town is the last fucking place they'd put one."

Also true.

Max tried another idea.

One not quite as good as the whipping, but definitely possible.

"How about you lock me up in the closet. Use the handcuffs, right over the clothes bar. And then just leave me there. For a long time."

Victoria seemed largely pleased with the idea.

"That's nice and specific, and I like it. I'll have to move some stuff out of my closet but-"

Victoria broke into a grin.

A wide, cunning grin.

A grin that did not mean good things for Max.

"Come to think of it, I bet I can find something in there to give you a good whipping with, too."

 _Both_ punishments?

 _Not fair_.

Then again, this was supposed to be a punishment.

And it was totally fair.

Max had been enjoying herself far too much lately.

Now, she'd be paying for it.


	2. Time

Victoria sat on her desk chair as if it were a throne.

As if she ruled all she surveyed.

Right now, she was surveying Max.

"Hurry up, I don't have all day."

Max was already removing her clothing as quickly as she could.

Her stupid shaking hands weren't helping.

Trying to hurry only made things worse.

"Yes, Mistress."

She didn't see anything prepared for the deed.

She did see a pile of clothing set carefully on the bed.

To make room for one worthless slut in Victoria's closet.

She jabbed herself in the thigh with her thumbnail while removing her panties.

Then folded them carefully and set them on the couch.

Now was not a time to be making a mess in Victoria's room.

Victoria pointed to the floor in front of her chair, and Max knelt there as obediently as she could.

"First, you will give me a full confession. Don't leave anything out, don't spare any details."

Max lowered her head and began,

"Forgive me, Mistress, I've sinned."

It seemed like the thing to say, but Victoria groaned and scolded her.

"What are you, Kate? Talk like a normal person."

'Normal' was a relative term in this situation.

"And look me in the eye."

That would be the hardest part.

"Mistress... I disobeyed you."

"What, exactly, did you do?"

"I've been masturbating."

"Been?"

"Yes, Mistress."

Victoria's tone gained all the sharpness of an ice pick.

" _How many times_?"

"I'm not sure, Mistress."

It was difficult, but Max was determined to keep eye contact.

And she could tell that 'not sure' was not going to cut it.

"Maybe once or twice a day?"

Not quite that, really.

But close enough.

And underestimating would be against the rules.

And make Max feel guilty all over again.

"That's more than I expected. A lot more."

Max lowered her head.

"I'm sorry, Mistress."

Victoria rested a comforting hand on Max's shoulder.

At least it started that way.

Then it traveled to Max's neck, where it grasped her throat and pushed her chin up, forcing her into eye contact again.

"Look at me when we're talking, slut."

Max nodded as much as Victoria's hand allowed.

Whispered "Yes, Mistress."

The hand had forced her chin uncomfortably high,

But she didn't lower it, even after Victoria sat back up in her chair.

Nor did she remove her hands from behind her back, even though Victoria hadn't fastened--or even ordered--them there.

"In what ways have you been touching my pussy?"

Max's breath hitched when she heard Victoria say _"my"_. Yet another reminder that it wasn't Max's to touch anymore.

The thought of being possessed so thoroughly aroused her like nothing else.

But it also made every time she'd cheated on the rules feel that much worse.

No part of this conversation was going to be fun.

Especially not while looking Victoria in the eye.

"I r-rubbed my legs together a bunch of times, like you saw. Sometimes when I was bored in class or stuff..."

"And...?"

"And I got bored once or twice while doing homework and slid a finger down my jeans. Maybe three times."

Definitely three times.

"Annnnnnd...?"

"And sometimes when I'm in the shower, I rub it a lot more than I need to."

"I _see_."

Victoria saw, all right.

Saw right into Max's soul,

And found her wanting.

"I'm _very_ disappointed in you."

Max hoped she meant 'disappointed' instead of disappointed.

"I collared you three weeks ago. I assumed,"

Victoria loved her little dramatic pauses.

"that I would be the only source of pleasure for you."

"That you would obey your mistress happily, and wholeheartedly."

"Was there something wrong with the rules I set up?"

"No, Mistress."

"Then _why_?"

"I forget."

"You _don't remember_ why?"

"No! Mistress. I mean..."

Max took a second to compose her thoughts and herself.

"I've always touched myself like that, ever since I can remember. Just a little bit here or there. Most of the time I don't even think about it; I just reach down or grind. Sometimes I don't remember I'm not allowed to now, until it's too late."

It was a stupid excuse, but it was the truth.

"When you remember, do you stop?"

Max wanted to say 'yes', but that would have been a lie.

"Usually."

"And did you think this was okay? That I'd approve?"

Max might have been able to get away with answering 'yes' to the first.

Definitely not to the second.

"N-no mistress."

"Jesus, do I need to fit you for a chastity belt or something?"

"Yes!" Max caught herself and toned down the eagerness. "I mean, if it pleases-"

"Shut up, I'm being rhetorical. Those things are absurdly impractical, and besides. I'd rather have you properly trained. Obeying the rules because you _want to_ , not because you physically can't break them. So what's the problem here?"

"I just do it without thinking."

"And when you remember and keep going?"

Max finally lowered her eyes. "I'm just weak."

"I'll say. That's an awful lot of weakness. I'll have to make your punishment harsher, to make sure you learn."

Max certainly felt an awful lot of weakness.

Mostly in her knees.

"Put these on."

Victoria had opened a desk drawer and pulled out a set of four leather cuffs to give Max alongside the command.

One for each wrist _and_ ankle.

That didn't bode well for Max.

It was a new set, a gorgeous deep purple rather than the black that Max would have expected.

She could smell the new leather as she put them on. It reminded her of the strap Victoria had used on her to fulfil her first fantasy, and that alone was enough to get her juices flowing.

As she fastened each cuff, Max wondered why there was a small metal loop at the end of each buckle prong. 

Victoria pulled four tiny padlocks from the drawer, and Max wondered no more.

A quick nod, and Max held out her wrists, to be inspected for tightness, then locked in.

The cuffs would not be coming off without the key.

Max's heart beat faster with each click.

Ankles next.

Balance was tricky with one foot on Victoria's lap for inspection.

But Max managed.

_Click._

She could feel the arousal flowing through every inch of her, from the racing thoughts in her head to the toes resting on Victoria's thigh.

And every bit in between.

_Click._

Victoria grasped a D-ring from each wrist cuff, and led Max to the now-empty closet. It was barely tall enough for Max to stand in, and left her little room to move around; if she wasn't careful, she'd hit her head on the rod she was to be fastened to.

There was already a short length of chain draped over it, with padlocks on either end, and Victoria wasted no time fastening each to Max's wrists. The final click sent a shiver down Max's spine, in spite of the warmth of the room.

Victoria ignored Max's state of arousal, and went through the rules of the confinement.

"You will not touch the door."

"Yes, Mistress."

"You will not speak. If I hear a word out of you it had better be your safeword."

"Yes, Mistress."

"You will not make any noise at all."

Another nod and acknowledgement.

"You will not fall asleep. I'll be checking up on you from time to time to make sure."

Another nod. These were all reasonable rules, all designed to make Max's time in here as much of a punishment as possible.

"And you will _absolutely_ not touch yourself."

Not that it would be possible, with Max's wrists chained well out of the way.

" _Or_ stimulate yourself in any way. Just so we're clear," Victoria added.

Max nodded guiltily.

"I'm going to give you an hour to think about what you've done. And how you'll be paying for it. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mistress."

"Your time starts now."

With that, the door was slammed shut.

And Max was plunged into total darkness.

It took every ounce of willpower Max had to not rub her thighs together right away.

The locking up had provided hardly a touch of physical stimulation.

But Max was inches from the edge, just from the ritual of it.

The power Victoria projected over her.

Just a few seconds would give her satisfaction.

But not a lesson.

And that was what Max was here for.

So,

Against every demand her body made of her,

She kept her legs apart, and let her arousal slowly bleed away.

Her eyes adjusted to the scant slivers of light seeping around the edges of the door.

If this were her entire punishment, Max would have to break the rules more often.

Sure, she'd only been there a minute or two.

But she could take an hour of this.

It felt cozy.

Safe, even.

Surrounded on all four sides by close walls and darkness that allowed her eyes only to discern shadows and shapes and the threads of the carpet.

The leather cuffs were much more comfortable than the metal pair of handcuffs Max had envisioned, and they dug in less than the leather straps that Max remembered.

They were even padded on the inside.

_I wonder where she got them._

_And how long she's been keeping them a secret._

_And why._

_Saving them for a special occasion maybe?_

Her first punishment _was_ pretty special, in a way.

She couldn't see the color in such darkness, but she could still picture the deep purple.

_My favorite color, too._

She drew her wrists closer to her face, and sniffed the leather deeply. 

This time it reminded her of before their first party, when Victoria had strapped her to the bed and turned the vibe all the way up, and Max couldn't help but get off, like the worthless slut she was.

Just thinking about it had Max ready to rub her thighs together again.

Even though she shouldn't.

Even though it would be about the worst thing she could do.

She wished that Victoria had somehow made it impossible, perhaps by fastening her ankles far apart, or maybe some kind of thigh spreader.

Even that thought was making it hard to resist.

Her eyes had fully adjusted to the darkness now, and she distracted herself by looking at the thin rays of light that seeped through the cracks. They revealed little, just the texture of the carpet and walls, and Max's purple toenails.

_Snap!_

The sound was loud, and it came from the other side of the door.

Max couldn't tell exactly what it was, but it didn't take long for her to realize:

This was going to _Hurt_.

Not the _good_ kind of Hurt that Victoria was so skilled in.

And Max had nothing to do but imagine what was coming, and dread it.

It seemed like every time her mind would wander she'd hear the _smack_ of something hard against a pillow, or a _snap_ that set her thoughts back on course.

Perhaps even the _swish_ of something long and thin biting through the air.

Max imagined that thing--whatever it might be--landing right between her legs, and found it hard to tell where the fear ended and the excitement began.

Every time Max's thoughts started to wander, a new _smack_ would force them right back to what would be happening to her an hour from now.

But the noises grew quieter, and further apart, and with less to focus on, Max found herself leaning against the wall to give her legs a break.

Her eyes needed a break too.

The door opened suddenly, waking Max with a start.

"I thought so," Victoria said from outside.

Max bolted upright and looked toward the ground. "Imsorrymistress! I'm sorry!"

"Not as sorry as you _will_ be."

It wasn't long before Max saw _why_ , and realized what her punishment for dozing off would be.

She gasped slightly.

A glossy black pair of nipple clamps were in Victoria's hands.

Max knew the pair.

Victoria called them "clover clamps".

Max called them "holy shit no", or sometimes just "ohfuckohfuckohfuck".

They bit like hell, and if you tried to pull them off they clamped down harder.

She could only stand a few minutes of them the few times she'd worn them.

Definitely not _this_ long.

"These should keep you awake for a while."

With what little freedom she had, Max turned her body away from Victoria.

Not that Max was in any position to avoid it if Victoria was determined enough.

"I can't! Not for a whole hour." 

"Relax, it's not even _safe_ to leave them on that long. I'll be back in a few minutes to give your tits a rest."

"You promise?"

"I swear. Five minutes."

With that reassurance, Max allowed Victoria's hand to turn her back around, and fasten the clamps.

The first one made Max wince badly enough.

Then Victoria ran the chain over the bar, and had to tug on it a bit, and lift her left breast to attach it to the second nipple.

Max's eyes watered with the pain. It took considerable effort to not shout her objection. "Please, no. I won't fall asleep again. I'll be good!"

"I bet you will, with these on." Victoria's voice softened, and she ran a comforting hand down Max's shoulder. "It won't be for long. Here, I'll even set a timer."

She pulled out her cell phone and tapped on the screen.

_5:00_

_4:59_

_4:58_

"See? Next time you fall asleep it'll be ten."

With that, she shut the door again.

The pain in Max's nipples gave her something to focus on for a little while at least.

She tried standing on her tiptoes to ease the tension

After a few minutes of that she realized it was going to lead to a cramp, and she could hardly imagine a worse time for that to happen.

The clamps send a renewed jolt of pain through her as she lowered herself back down onto her heels, and it took effort to keep from gasping too loudly.

With tension on the clamps again, Max could focus on nothing but their fierce bite, exacerbated by the tiniest movement.

Even breathing had to be done carefully, for fear of moving her chest too much and causing more pain.

After a while she couldn't stand _that_ anymore, and went back on her tiptoes.

_How has it not been five minutes yet?!_

Her movement disturbed the clamps slightly, but lessened the pressure from them, and let Max breathe a bit easier for moment.

Just as her calves were about to give way, she heard a faint beeping from the room, and the door slid open.

"Have you learned not to nap during your punishment?" Victoria asked sweetly.

Max could only nod as Victoria reached for the clamps.

"Excellent."

Each sent a wave of pain through her entire body as it was removed.

Max breathed heavily as Victoria closed the door again without a word.

The evil little things were gone, but the pain faded not nearly fast enough for Max's liking.

At least it kept her awake.

For a while.

It only took one drowsy nod before Max shook herself awake.

She had all sorts of strategies for stopping herself from napping in class.

Asking to go to the bathroom wouldn't work here.

Nor would writing dirty ideas in her notebook.

Rubbing her legs together was right out.

There were no sounds coming through the door, no loud music to cover up their noses, no swish or smack of whatever Victoria would be using. Even the usual afternoon sounds of the dorm hallway were imperceptible.

Max allowed herself a few minutes of imagining her punishment.

It fueled the need to rub her legs together, but that was easier to resist than the need to sleep.

In her fantasy, Victoria ran her finger up and down Max's pussy, in between loving swats.

Max knew it wouldn't be like that.

She didn't care, it just had to keep her awake a little longer.

 _How long has it even been?_ she wondered.

_Fifty minutes? Forty?_

Since she'd slept through part of it there was no way she could know for sure.

And it hadn't occurred to her to sneak a glance at the clock on Victoria's cell phone, until the opportunity was long gone.

Even that wouldn't have helped all that much.

With nothing to focus on, time seemed to have a mind of it's own.

If Max hadn't seen Victoria set the five minute timer, and heard the beeping, she would have sworn it was fifteen.

Or at least ten.

Max bit down on her cheek, and that kept the drowsiness at bay for a while, but even with that the darkness and lack of other stimulation eventually made it insufficient.

She bit harder, on her cheek and then on her tongue, until it filled her mind.

Between the pain from that, and the anxiety, Max wondered if she was better off with the clamps.

_Maybe I should just ask her to-_

The sound of footsteps broke through the silence.

Max wasn't sure whether or not she wanted the door to open, but it did.

Realizing that her punishment was coming _now_ sent a surge of nervousness through her.

The sounds she'd heard through the door would be happening now.

 _On her body_.

The cuffs were unlocked, and Max was guided toward the couch and into a kneeling position.

Victoria sat down on the edge of it, next to a neat row of four items.

One hairbrush.

Two belts.

And a long, thin plastic rod that took Max a second to place.

 _Twist rod_ , she finally realized. _For the blinds_.

 _This is gonna hurt_ , she realized for the fourth time.

And it was far too late to back out now.


	3. Music

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit harsher than would be safe in real life (see comments). I plan to make a few fixes, but in the meantime don't try this at home!

Victoria sat on the couch above Max, a figure of absolute power.

Max couldn't even look up at her without getting chills.

"This isn't going to be the mix of pleasure and pain that you get off to," Victoria began.

Max knew that in some abstract way.

"You will suffer," Victoria continued.

But the less abstract it became,

The more Max wanted out.

"This will make you hurt more than you ever realized you could."

Or rather, Max wished she hadn't got herself into this in the first place.

_Stupid hands._

"It might make you hate me for a while. But if it makes you feel any better, I'm not going to enjoy it either."

"Wait, if you don't want to then why-"

"There's a difference between enjoying _this_ and enjoying the dynamic that it's a part of."

Max looked at Victoria quizzically.

"You don't _like_ going to the dentist, do you? But you like having healthy teeth."

Max made a mental note to schedule a dentist appointment.

"This is sort of like that. Unpleasant but necessary for our relationship. It reminds you of the rules. Teaches you that actions have consequences."

Victoria placed her hand on the back of Max's head, and as she spoke she bent Max gently down over her knees, putting Max's bottom in a perfect position for a spanking.

"But it also serves as a release valve. I wasn't happy to find out you've been disobeying me."

The row of tools was inches from Max's face now, and Victoria picked up the hairbrush and ran it gently around Max's rear.

"It made me wonder if I was doing something wrong, or worry that maybe our relationship wasn't as strong as I thought. I could tell you felt bad about disobeying me, too."

Max nodded quickly.

"If we do it right, this punishment will let both of us let go of all that. Tomorrow I'll go back to teasing you, and sitting on your face, and not letting you cum for weeks on end, and you'll go back to enjoying it."

Max couldn't help but notice that the hairbrush wasn't gliding gently over her buttocks anymore.

"But it can only do that..."

Victoria raised the hairbrush and brought it down with a good _smack_ against Max's bottom.

"...if you're _completely honest_ with me. Do you understand what that means?"

"I think so, Mistress?"

"It means no fake crying, no pretending you can't take any more when you really can. Only you know where your limit is, but we'll never find it if you're not honest with me. You will take as much as your body can stand, and you will be a big girl and thank me for it at the end."

"Yes, Mistress."

The hairbrush wasn't so bad, really; it came down with no more sting than Victoria's hand usually caused. It was just the rest of the implements on the couch that made Max worry.

"We'll be starting with the gentlest one, on your less sensitive areas and going up from there. Once we find one that you think you can't stand..."

Victoria smiled and held the hairbrush against Max's other cheek, and brought it down to punctuate her words.

" _That_ one will be used for your punishment. Understand?"

There was that golf ball again, sitting in Max's throat and making it tough to swallow.

"Y- Y- Yes."

_Smack!_

"Yes Mistress!"

The first few blows were almost enjoyable. Victoria had hit her harder barehanded, and Max was about to drift off into a happy place when Victoria reached to her side and picked up the next instrument.

The thin belt mad a very soft swish as Victoria drew it down on Max's ass, and stung enough that Max let out an involuntary yelp.

Max waited silently for Victoria to declare that they'd found the one, but Victoria drew her hand back to prepare another blow.

Max gritted her teeth and winced as it landed again.

And again.

Unpleasant, but Max had a sinking feeling things would be getting worse.

No sooner had the fifth stroke landed than Victoria was reaching for the next tool.

Victoria was being almost scientific about it, trying each one in sequence.

Gentlest to cruelest.

Five strokes each, with slightly different force and angle.

Then on to the next.

This one was a bigger, wider belt with pretty silver detailing.

It had always looked good on Victoria, and Max remembered seeing her wear it at the last Vortex Club party.

She braced herself as Victoria prepared to use it for a much uglier purpose.

It didn't hurt any more than the last belt, though, perhaps even a little less.

The five strokes with it passed not too unpleasantly, and Max found herself doubting that the last item would be any worse.

She couldn't have been more wrong.

The rod came down with a swish and _crack_ , and hurt more than anything Victoria had ever done before.

Max squirmed slightly, but managed to hold still.

For a moment she considered crying out, and hoping Victoria would decide on one of the lesser implements.

But that was exactly what Victoria had forbidden her from doing.

So she gritted her teeth and took the next four strokes, with difficulty, but without much more than a whimper.

Max was just about to ask what was next when Victoria answered for her.

"Stand."

She did so, and waited as Victoria pulled the cuffs behind her back, and locked them together.

"Stop slouching. Chest out."

The hairbrush again.

This time aimed at Max's left breast.

It landed with a dull 'thwack' rather than the sting that she expected.

Different, but still unpleasant--especially so soon after the clamps.

Then on to Max's right breast, with much the same result.

The third blow, however, was an inch or two higher, and hurt in an entirely different way.

"Ow, fuck!" Max flinched and turned her back to Victoria for a moment.

"Is that the one?"

"No, you just hit a rib."

"Oh. Sorry."

The irony of Victoria apologizing for hurting Max in the wrong way wasn't lost on either of them.

Victoria chucked slightly.

Max did too, until she was shushed loudly.

"Quiet! And close your eyes. I need to find something else."

With eyes closed, Max focused on the sounds of Victoria opening a desk drawer, and rummaging through it. 

"Open."

Max did, and saw a ruler in Victoria's hand.

She hardly had a moment to brace herself before it landed right on her left nipple, with quite a bit more smart than the brush.

Max wasn't crying, but tears began running down her cheeks anyways, eyes watering from the sting and the effort involved in standing still while she received it.

She quietly hoped she'd get credit for the hairbrush, but no such luck.

Five strokes with the ruler, then on to the belt.

Victoria never asked Max how much each one hurt, or whether she was close to her limit.

Max had the sinking feeling Victoria could tell anyways.

She watched Max closely after each blow.

Max just stood there as best she could and whimpered slightly in between.

After five she moved on from the ruler to the belt. Five of that, then on to the smaller belt.

Max wasn't exaggerating how much each hurt, but she certainly wasn't hiding it either.

Her face contorted into all manner of shapes of anguish as she took the punishment.

Victoria kept going anyways, indifferent to Max's suffering.

The rod was especially bad, but however much Max was tempted to fake a breakdown it wasn't unbearable, and she resolved again to take it for as long as she could.

_Just five strokes._

Now knowing what was coming, Max found herself flinching before each blow.

That was about all she could do though, with her hands secured as they were.

Her nipples were worse than sore now; they were in agony, even in the merciful pauses in her punishment.

As the fifth blow landed she found herself thankful that it was over.

Until she realized what that meant.

_That means... next is something worse._

Max wondered what on earth that would be,

but she didn't wonder for long.

Her cuffs were separated, and she was guided into a sitting position on the edge of the couch. Then Victoria bent Max's legs back, until she was practically lying on the couch, rear hanging off the edge, and her knees were on either side of her head.

Max had pictured this before.

It had made her wet, the thought of being exposed like this, helpless, vulnerable.

Now it made her tremble, imagining how much worse the blows would be when aimed right between her legs.

Max was expecting the hairbrush, or perhaps the ruler, but instead the first smack came from Victoria's hand.

It hurt more than Max expected, but it was still dangerously close to the kind of treatment that Max's body secretly loved, and with the second smack Max could feel her arousal rising slowly, eager for the rest of the punishment.

The large belt put a stop to that right quick.

Max let out a little yelp as she felt its sting, and any thought of enjoyment flew right out the window.

The second blow caused Max's legs to clamp together involuntarily, and it took a few seconds before she could get herself back into the position Victoria wanted.

The third was almost unbearable, and Max thought to herself,

_This is it. Right?_

She looked to Victoria for any signs of satisfaction.

There was no way to be sure what Victoria was thinking until two blows later, when she reached for the small belt.

Max closed her eyes as Victoria wound up and hit right on target.

"FFFFFFuck!"

Max knew it as soon as the first blow landed.

_Shit._

Her whole body curled into a ball, knees bent and tightly clamped together, ankles crossed, and arms wrapped around the lot.

_Fuck, shit, Fuck!_

The brutal sting lasted for far longer than the stroke itself.

Victoria knew it too.

Max could see it in her eyes.

That was the one.

The only one worthy of being called 'punishment'.

The one Victoria would be using.

"I think we have a winner."

Victoria ran her finger through Max's pussy gently, in a way that would normally have Max begging for more.

But now all she could feel was leftover pain from the belt.

She flinched slightly.

"Perfect," Victoria declared.

And it was. Max's cheating would be penalized with this torture, meted out one-for-one in the very same spot.

Max nodded as much as her body would allow.

As her limbs could return to her sides, and the pain in her clit faded to more of a throbbing than a stinging, Victoria pulled long nylon straps over the back of the couch.

She tugged them to verify--or perhaps to demonstrate--that they were secure, and left them sitting on either side of Max for now.

"So." Victoria sat back down on the office chair, facing Max. "You touched yourself every day for the past three weeks, yes?"

"Yes, Mistress."

"You can do math, right?"

Max did not like where this was going.

"Yes, Mistress."

"How many days is that?"

Max _really_ did not like where this was going.

"Twenty-one, M-Mistress."

"I think that's an appropriate number, don't you?"

"I... I can't."

Victoria reached for the end of the left strap and pulled Max's left leg out to meet it.

"You can, and you will." She did the same to the right leg and strap. "In fact,"

Victoria added with a brilliantly evil flourish,

"You will ask me..."

"for Every..."

She punctuated the word with the _click_ of the clasp locking onto a D-ring on Max's left ankle.

"...single..."

She secured the right ankle with another _click_.

"...one."

The final word was accompanied by a yank of the straps that forced Max's legs apart.

It wasn't the most comfortable position to be in.

But that didn't seem like something Max should be complaining about.

And soon, it would be the least of her problems.

Victoria moved Max's wrists to join her ankles, then clipped them in as well and pulled the straps even tighter.

By the time she was done Max's most sensitive spot--as determined by Science--was thoroughly and helplessly exposed.

"When you are ready, you will say, 'I've touched myself without permission. Please punish me, Mistress.' And then I'll administer a stroke. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mistress."

"Are you ready?"

"Yes, Mistress."

"Then you know what to say."

Max closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. "I've touched myself without permission. Please punish me Mistress."

_Smack!_

" _Fuck!_ "

The sting spread throughout Max's body again.

"That's one."

Victoria spoke as Max was still writing in pain from it.

"You will keep count silently. For every mistake you make, I'll add two strokes. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mistress."

"Now, you know what to say when you're ready for more."

Victoria held up the thin belt, ready to deliver.

More of that was unimaginable.

Then again, Max wouldn't _have_ to imagine it.

Would she.

She took a deep breath, ready to shout another obscenity, or perhaps just scream if the second one was any worse than the first.

But then she caught herself, and said instead:

"Wait, shouldn't you gag me? Or turn the music on?"

Victoria's hand reached out to grasp Max's left nipple, and Max was in no position to avoid it.

She pinched down hard.

Perhaps only as hard as usual, but after the cane that part of Max's anatomy was raw and smarting, and the pinch was almost as bad as the last blow.

"First of all, my ssstupid little ssslut,"

Victoria dragged out her S's like a snake.

"if I gag you you won't be able to beg for your punishment."

Oh.

Yeah.

That was a good point.

"And second, I already told Kate she might want to spend the afternoon in the library, if she didn't want to overhear anything."

"What about Brooke?"

Victoria's room had two neighbors, after all.

"Oh, I told her too,"

Victoria looked pleased with herself as she said this.

"But I think she enjoys listening in."

It could have been a lie,

But the thought of Brooke with her ear to the wall,

hearing every smack and scream and sob,

was too perfect not to imagine.

"So,"

Victoria said,

"Let's not disappoint her. What number were we on?"

"One, Mistress."

"Very good."

Victoria held the damned belt up in position,

ready to come down on Max's most sensitive parts.

It was hard to even remember the mantra,

let alone voice it.

"I touched myself without permission. Please punish me Mistress."

Victoria obeyed.

Max writhed as much as her restraints allowed.

"I don't think I can manage nineteen more, Mistress."

"You can always say 'Mercy' if you really need to."

Victoria said it in a concerned, reassuring tone.

Then switched right back to her dom-voice.

"But you won't."

And she was right.

If there was one way to make Max determined not to safeword,

Reminding her of the safeword would be it.

"In fact," Victoria continued, "you'll take every last stroke, and then beg for more."

Victoria was right again.

"Because you really feel bad, and you really want to be a good slut."

Max really did.

She nodded.

She braced herself for the next blow.

"I touched myself without permission. Please punish me Mistress."

Victoria did.

Tears began flowing and wouldn't stop.

"I touched myself without permission. Please punish me Mistress."

Max's wrists and ankles strained against the restraints, but the straps held firm, and the blow landed painfully.

While Max recovered, Victoria sat back in the desk chair and asked, "How many is that?"

Max hadn't been keeping track, but the number was low enough that she could replay them in her mind and count.

"FFFFour, Mistress."

"Very good. Let me know when you're ready for the fifth."

'Ready' was perhaps an overstatement, but Max had the feeling that drawing things out would make herself even more miserable than she already was, and braced for another.

"I t-touched myself without permission. Please punish me Mistress."

Stroke five was even more painful than before, landing hard on bits that were already stinging and sore.

By stroke seven Max's joints ached from straining against her cuffs, and she wondered how sturdy Victoria's couch was.

Around stroke twelve the mantra became hard to get out between sobs.

Max's safeword ran through her mind, and she seriously considered it for a minute.

 _Is it 'cause I can't take any more? Or don't_ want _to?_

It was hard to be sure.

Victoria seemed to sense her hesitation.

"Are you okay?" she asked sweetly? "Need a break?"

Max shook her head. _I already made it halfway through. I can do it._

"I touched m-m-myself without permission. Please p-punish me Mistressssss."

Max suffered through the final half-dozen almost mechanically. She knew how the torment came, she knew how her body reacted, straining at her bonds and filling her eyes and sinuses with more tears every time, and she knew how long she needed to cool down in between. More importantly, she knew how many strokes she had left.

Victoria sat below Max, silently delivering each blow, and only asking once or twice what Max's count was.

Max smiled slightly as she realized how obedient Victoria was being.

The smile didn't last past the next blow.

Victoria seemed to put extra effort into the final smack, and it was almost a minute before Max could say, through tears and loud ungraceful sniffs,

"That's twenty-one."

Victoria nodded. "Yes it is. Are you done?"

Max was truly not this much of a masochist.

She'd be happy if she never had to go through this ordeal again.

But she also really wanted to be a good slut.

And she couldn't help but wonder,

as she pictured the rod sitting next to her on the couch,

_How much worse could it be?_

Mad wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer to that question.

She had a sneaking suspicion that she was a fool for even asking it.

But it paired with another question, one Max _did_ want the answer to.

_Can I take it?_

So even though her body was begging her to say 'yes' and then go pour an entire freezer full of ice down her pants, she decided to prove Victoria right instead:

"One more."

Max took a deep breath.

"W-With the rod."

She regretted both sentences the instant they came out of her mouth.

"Are you sure, Max?"

Max was not. But she was far too stubborn to change course now. She nodded.

"Good." Victoria unclipped the straps from Max's cuffs and leaned over Max sternly. "Now touch yourself."

"What?" Max asked.

No part of that command made any sense.

"I thought I was supposed to be learning not to do that."

"I want that starving little cunt of yours to remember what happens when your hands wander. I wanna train your brain to associate touching yourself with lots of pain. So start rubbing."

Max nodded and lowered her hand gingerly to her poor, abused pussy, and the moment she brushed her fingertips against the labia the order made perfect sense.

After twenty-one strokes with the belt, even the gentlest touch was agonizing.

It was like getting caught with a cigarette, and being forced to smoke the whole disgusting pack.

"Does that feel good?"

"No," Max whined. "It still hurts."

Victoria looked coldly satisfied. "Good. Rub it."

Max took a deep breath and obeyed.

"Harder."

Any harder and Max was likely to start crying.

One more glare from Victoria and she did it anyways.

Through tears Max could see Victoria, looking almost satisfied.

"The minute it starts hurting less you'll recite the mantra and move your hand out of the way."

It was some minutes of painful rubbing before Max felt the tiniest hint of arousal, and knew what she had to do.

Her hand stopped, and she held it still, as if covering herself from what was coming.

"I'm touching myself without p-permission."

With every ounce of willpower she had, Max moved her hand away and finished the mantra.

"Pleasepunishme!"

_Crack!_

The sting was blinding, searing, all-encompassing, and Max let out a loud sob and curled up into a ball on the couch.

Crossing her legs _after_ the blow wasn't going to help, but Max did it anyways.

Rather, her body did, seemingly of its own accord.

Max's own mind was useless for anything other than processing pain at the moment.

She didn't even realize how hard she'd been sobbing until she had to take a deep, snotty breath to refill her lungs.

"Are you okay?"

Victoria's voice came through a fog.

Max nodded, but even when she opened her eyes she couldn't focus them on anything.

Let alone Victoria.

Hands gently helped Max back into a sitting position.

A tissue appeared in front of her face, and she reached for it shakily and blew hard.

"What do we say?" Victoria asked.

It took Max a minute to figure out the right answer.

"Th-Th-Thank you, M-Mistress."

Max had imagined, somehow, that Victoria would be her usual comforting self after the punishment was over.

Instead, as soon as Max was able to stand she was led back into the closet.

She was too weak to object until her wrist cuffs were being locked back over the pole.

"We're not gonna cuddle?"

"Not yet. I'm proud of you for taking it all, but this is still a punishment, and I think you need some more time to rest and reflect on that."

And then Max was alone in the dark again.

There wasn't much room in her mind to reflect on anything, it was largely occupied by the pain between her legs, and on her breasts and rear.

The narrow closet didn't allow her to spread her legs far enough to feel much better, and when she tried her rear brushed up against the wall and reminded her that it, too, was sore.

She did her best, though, to connect all the pain to her transgressions, and it wasn't too hard to imagine she'd never touch herself again. Certainly not for the next week or so, judging by how the sting was lingering.

There was no sound leaking in from outside the closet this time, and little light; the sun was almost below the horizon by now, filling Victoria's room with shadows, and her closet with a darkness that almost hurt Max's eyes to look through.

There was still plenty of pain to keep her mind occupied at least.

Max tried to focus on that to keep herself from falling asleep, but before she knew it the door opened, starting her awake again.

"I'm sorry, Mistress, I'm sorry, I won't do it again, I-"

Victoria touched a finger to Max's lips and spoke soothingly.

"Don't worry about it. You're coming off of, like, the biggest endorphin high ever."

Sweet and Caring Victoria was back, wearing her softest nightie, and Max slumped against her cuffs, relieved.

"Honestly I'm impressed," Victoria said as she unlocked the chain that kept Max in place. "You took a hell of a beating. I thought you were gonna safeword at like three but you just kept going."

"You _gave_ a hell of a beating. I'm not gonna be able to sit down for like a week."

"A few days at least," Victoria said as she supported Max for the short walk to the bed, doing her best not to touch anything that was still sore. "Sorry," she added.

"Hey, it was my idea. You were just doing what I told you to," Max countered with a cheeky grin.

"How'd that work out for you?"

"Could've been worse," Max said casually, but her tone was belied by a audible wince as her rear touched the mattress.

"Well good, cause I think we should make it a regular thing."

"Oh?"

The idea of doing all this again was both attractive and horrifying.

"From now on you'll keep a page in your journal just for me, and whenever you feel the slightest bit of pleasure that I didn't expressly allow, you'll write it down on that page, with all the details of where, when, and how."

"Yes, Mistress."

"On the last Friday of every month you'll kneel before me and give me a full confession. Then you'll be punished accordingly."

"Yes, Mistress!"

Max's enthusiasm made Victoria pause. "Wait, you didn't enjoy this whole thing, did you?"

"No! Definitely not. I mean, it's good that we did it, and it was kind of neat to know how much I can take, but I don't wanna go through it ever again. I just like the... the threat of it I guess."

"Okay, good. You've learned your lesson?"

Every intimate part of Max was still sore.

She was still learning it.

"Yes, Mistress."

"And will you ever touch yourself again?"

Max waited far too long to say

"No, Mistress."

And she tried and failed to sound particularly confident.

Victoria picked up on it right away.

"You don't sound so certain."

"It's hard, mistress."

"Okay, hold on, time out."

Victoria was able to turn off her Dom Voice at the drop of a hat.

The transformation was really quite impressive.

Victoria sat down on the bed next to Max.

"Do we need to rethink this? I mean I don't wanna be setting you up for failure. Unless _that's_ something you're into."

Max considered for a while before answering.

"Not like _this_. I like that for a little bit of pain, yeah, but this was just... awful! But that's a good thing, right? It's not supposed to be something I enjoy. I like you having that kind of power over me. I'm just afraid I'll keep touching myself without thinking."

"I think we can adjust things a little," Victoria said. "How about, if you catch yourself and stop right away I'll use my hand instead of the belt. But if you keep going, even after you remember you're not allowed to, that'll earn you the cane."

It was practically a promise that Max would get her pussy spanked once a month, which suited her just fine.

On top of that, the threat of the cane, looming ever in the background would be a powerful motivator, and a reminder of how thoroughly _Victoria's_ Max's body was. It was...

"Perfect."

And," Victoria whispered as she positioned herself behind Max, "if you ever come from touching yourself, you'll wish you were never born."

Victoria wrapped her arms around Max and gave her a tight squeeze to punctuate her words.

Max didn't doubt her for a second.

And she wouldn't have it any other way.

She wondered briefly _what_ Victoria would do, but decided not to find out.

Not the hard way at least; Victoria would probably give in and tell if Max begged enough.

Max was good at begging.

"So I was thinking about your dress for the party..." Victoria began.

"Oh?" Max tried not to show how happy she was for the change in subject. "What about it?"

It was weird how fast things returned to normal.

But not at all unwelcome.

"I said I wanted you going commando again, but now I'm thinking the blue thong instead."

"Okay..." Max waited for Victoria to explain her sudden change of heart.

"That way we can go with the fishnet I showed you, and still _technically_ not be flashing the entire party."

 _Ah._ It wasn't the most fashionable of the outfits Victoria had gotten Max, but it was certainly the most revealing, and the thought of finally wearing it in a group setting gave Max a little shiver.

"Why the blue thong though? I thought last time you said I should wear nudes underneath the fishnet."

"You didn't have these awesome cane marks on your ass back then."

Oh.

Max looked down at her chest and sure enough, a series of dark purple lines cris-crossed her breasts.

She could only imagine what the marks on her ass looked like, but picturing them on subtle display at tomorrow's party gave her a perverse kind of thrill.

Max sighed and shivered slightly as Victoria ran her hands carefully over the parts that weren't sore: shoulders, arms, back, thighs.

"Does that feel good?"

A backrub from Victoria wasn't just good, it was amazing, and practically unheard of. It didn't exactly make up for the stinging everywhere else, but that hardly mattered.

"It does."

In fact, Max felt closer to Victoria than she had since the collar went on.

The rub ended entirely too soon, and Victoria reached for the switch to the ropelights, leaving the room dark.

 _I guess I'm sleeping with the cuffs on, then,_ Max thought.

Not that she minded that.

It meant there was something planned for the morning.

Something to look forward to.

They'd probably give Max even kinkier dreams than usual.

And they certainly weren't uncomfortable.

It was the rest of her body that would make sleeping difficult. There was no position Max could find that didn't hurt in some way.

She couldn't lie on her back, because her ass still smarted fiercely.

Lying on her front put more pressure on sore breasts than could ever be fixed by careful pillow placement.

Even trying to lie on her side pressed her thighs against her labia, which hurt like hell.

Max finally gave up and stole a decorative pillow from the foot of the bed to keep her knees apart, and then she was ready to fall asleep with Victoria.

Little spoon as always.

But there was one thing that Max felt like she needed to say first.

"You know, you said all that stuff about it helping us let move past my mistakes, and you were right. It feels good, like we made amends, and things are back the way they were. There was one thing you were wrong about though: I never hated you. Not even for a second, not even close. I felt awful for cheating like that, and I was mad at _myself_ a few times for doing it, or for thinking up that punishment, but not at you."

"I'm glad," Victoria said softly. "It sounds like you took away the right lesson from it at least. And yeah..." Victoria squeezed Max, carefully keeping her arm away from any sensitive spots. "It's good to be past all that stuff; back to normal."

"I love you," Max said.

"I love you too," Victoria answered.

And the words played over and over again in Max's ears like music as the two drifted off together.


End file.
